Vertical Velocity
by TheDiscombobulatedDiva
Summary: Vanessa Travis,intern at Stark Industries, after a horrible accident she finds herself on the other side of the spectrum. Rather than helping her crime fighting boss, she is fighting crime right beside him. Rubbish summary. Sorry. OC story. No pairings as of yet. Takes place during Avengers.
1. Chapter 1: The Intern

It was the job of a lifetime. Well not exactly a job but more of an opportunity.

An opportunity that came out of nowhere and with it's sudden unveiling many people began to question it.

Most said it was a part of Tony Stark's newfound moral conscious due to his Iron Man personality that caused him to set it up.

However, for whatever reason thousands of eager young graduates from around the world, flocked to Stark Industries for the "Stark Innovators of the Future Internship." An internship with the one and only Tony Stark that was only opened to undergrad and graduate college students between 20 and 30 years old.

Each applicant had to submit their résumé three months prior and schedule an interview with a panel, then if called back schedule another interview with a smaller panel, fill out a few health forms, take a test, and then interview with only one person. The only important person in this entire process: Pepper Potts.

Those that made it so far to see her said that she was the impossible hurtle. Not by looking at your test score, job experience, or even education she could tell if you could make it or not. Simply by personality she could tell. It was because of this that many applicants where discarded for consideration and in the last month of the application process, many of the applicants where too afraid to see her and dropped out.

This however did not scare Vanessa Rowina Travis. She was more nervous than anything else. As she, and two other applicants, sat in the navy blue carpeted waiting room, she thought about how hard she worked to get to this point.

She had to spend what little money she got from her secretary job to fly back and forth from New York over the last few months, schedule countless interviews, and even take a standardize test on quantum physics. All of those countless hours spent talking to all those interview people and flying back and forth would not be wasted. She would be damned if she did not get the internship and with a fiery determination Vanessa was ready to face the "impossible hurtle" Pepper Potts.

"Ms. Travis?" called a brown haired woman at the reception desk.

Vanessa stood up and carefully straightened out her black suit. As she turned to face the other woman she could feel the other's stares in the room burning into the back of her head.

"Just through that door." The brown haired woman said pointing to the door at the end of the hall with a smile.

Vanessa took a deep breath and walked down the hall. Her future awaited her.

* * *

**AUTHOR NOTE:** Hi and welcome to this new story! I made this story because 1) I love the Avengers and 2) I am trying to get back into writing. So I hope you enjoy this series!


	2. Chapter 2: The Project

**AUTHOR NOTE:** Also, sorry if Tony seemed slightly OOC. This is my first time writing Tony or any of the Avengers as they show up in this story.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE AVENGERS, TONY STARK, PEPPER POTS, OR THE MARVEL UNIVERSE. THIS STORY IS MADE FOR THE PURE ENJOYMENT OF WRITING AND FOR READERS.** (so please don't sue me)

* * *

"The Vertical Velocity attachment is the next best thing for not only your suit but for-."

Vanessa sighed as she scratched her head in frustration. Her straight black hair fell in her face as she then ran her hand through it.

Pepper sat at the research table and twittled her fingers.

"Is that it?" she said.

Vanessa sighed, "No. Well, yes I guess but do you think he'll like it?"

It had been a year since Vanessa had passed the hurtle that was Pepper Potts and moved to the brick wall that was Tony Stark.

After her interview Pepper had hired her immediately and that very next day she met Tony. He was just as she pictured him, very handsome and hardheaded with an ego that filled up the room. He told her once, that as soon as he met her he knew she would do great things and that she has done just that since she got there.

She also somehow became his new personal secretary. Not officially but he for some reason dragged her everywhere he went since Pepper had to always fly out of the state on business trips. Although the world and party traveling part was not that bad, the extra paperwork that came with it was.

While Pepper was flying around the world, or Tony wanted alone time with her, all of that extra work came with it too.

However, she didn't mind the extra work as much as she should have. She thought they where a cute couple even if Tony did act like an ass some of the time. Mostly Vanessa thought that if they could work out some time to be together they (mostly Pepper) deserved it.

And even though the two bumped heads 98 percent of the time, Vanessa had to admit that the guy with the Iron Man suit was starting to rub off on her. He told her once when he took her out for drinks that she was his second favorite employee; first already being claimed by Pepper.

She was always there to make sure that he was kept in check and when out performing superhero duty that he didn't get killed, mostly because she didn't want Pepper to worry too much over his well being. To help with this ever-difficult part of he job she began to do a side project along with her internship work. She called it "Vertical Velocity."

She got the idea, like most good ideas she gets, idea in a dream.

"A dream?" said Pepper as she told her about her idea the very next morning after she had it.

"Yeah. I was looking into the sky and I saw Mr. Stark falling with his suit on. For some reason his jets weren't working. Then I suddenly lifted up my hands and on them were some kinda gloves."

Vanessa then stretched her arms out in front of her to add and effect to her story.

"As I raised my hands to him I though to my self 'Slow Down'. As I concentrated and held out my hands I felt them pulse within the gloves and sure enough he started to slow down in speed. I changed his velocity to the point where he stopped mid air. I really think that it could be a very helpful. You know for like diverting or even slowing down bullets if possible. Maybe even bigger things."

Pepper sipped her coffee and looked at the young woman. She spoke with such enthusiasm that her caramel skin began to flush a bit from her excitement and her glasses slipped to the bridge of her nose. That was one reason as to why she hired her, once she got an idea she was more than determined to run with it almost like Tony. And that was exactly what was needed in an intern.

"That's a interesting dream but do you think it's possible?"

"Anything is possible." Vanessa said breaking off a piece of her morning muffin.

The two stood in Tony's kitchen waiting for their assignments for the day. The bright California sun shined down on them through the large glass windows. Vanessa glanced out of it for a moment as she saw the waves hitting the rocks below and wondered if she should go swimming later.

"It's mainly if you have the drive, tools, and money to make it happen. You, Mr. Stark, and I both know I have the drive, we have the tools, but not so sure on the money."

Pepper opened her mouth to retort when she suddenly looked at Vanessa with stern eyes. "You didn't tell him yet?"

Vanessa avoided Pepper's gaze. "No, that's why I ran it by you first. I need to make him a proper presentation because I'm pretty sure even HE won't think it's possible or even worth the effort. With all the time and energy he's putting into Stark Tower, this new sustainable energy, and his Iron Man upgrades he may not want to spend the extra money on this."

And in some respects this was true. Just a few weeks after the what was now know as the "Whiplash Episodes" Tony has started to put more effort, money, and time into upgrading his Ironman suit. He had went through so many models, in this workshop his previous versions where all lined up in a row like some sort of museum exhibit.

"Well, it is intended for his suit right?"

"Yeah."

Pepper sipped her coffee again, "Then propose it just as that. Trust me, if it's for the suit I'm pretty sure he will go for it."

And thus two days later Vanessa, after feeling like an idiot for not thinking of that herself, presented Pepper with her Vertical Velocity proposal.

"I will admit that it was very simple and to the point. He likes that."

" 'He' likes what?" came Tony's voice as he came up from his downstairs workshop.

He wiped his hands off on an old dirty rag as his tan face was stained with oil and dirt, the arc reactor glowing under his black shirt with a bright light blue light.

"Good morning Mr. Stark." Said Vanessa putting on her professional persona and straighten her suit jacket and pencil skirt.

Tony sighed, "How many times do I have to tell you Nessa, you can call me Tony."

"And how many times do I have to tell you _Mr. Stark_ to stop calling me Nessa. You know I like to keep work and play separate." Said Vanessa as she went to sip her coffee. "Unlike you."

Tony just shrugged and said a quick good morning to Pepper followed by a kiss on the cheek.

"Now then what about what 'He' likes?" Tony continued as he went to make himself a cup of coffee but instead was handed a cup by Vanessa.

"Here, I made it earlier it's still hot. Do you have a sensor in your brain that buzzes when people talk about you or are you that big of a narcissist that you think we have nothing better to do than talk about you?"

Tony took a sip of his coffee and smiled, "A little bit of both."

"Anyway," Pepper said, "Vanessa here has a wonderful idea she wants to run by you Tony. Go on."

Vanessa looked down at her cup and then up at her boss next to her. Tony just continued to stare at her and then reached over and broke off a piece of her muffin.

"What is it?" he said.

"You just ate my muffin."

"And?"

"Don't do that, I'm still eating it."

"Then tell me what you wanted to tell me."

Vanessa bit her bottom lip and fixed her glasses. "I think I have a idea for a upgrade to your suit."

Tony paused for a second as he continued to pick from Vanessa's breakfast. "Go on, you got my attention."

"Mr. Stark, the concept of this upgrade is velocity control. Basically, it would allow the wearer to control or start up the velocity of any object or maybe even human around them."

"Really now," he said as Tony hopped on top of the kitchen counter. "What is the basis for this?"

"Mr. Stark get your butt off the table, we eat there."

"I will when you finish, now answer the question. You're more distracted today than usual."

Vanessa sighed, "That's because I'm nervous. Just here." She said thrusting a manila folder at him as then leaned against the counter looking into her mug.

Tony, taking another bite of the muffin, flipped trough the folder. Inside where blueprints, formulas, budget cost and a list of everything that would be required to make this device. Tony flipped the folder closed and hopped from the counter.

"It's interesting." He said sipping his coffee. "But it will require a lot of work and some new stuff we may have to invent."

He then went and rubbed Vanessa's head, "You sure do know how to brighten my day."

Vanessa groaned and knocked Tony's hand off her head before she realized what he said. She turned and looked at him with her glasses slipping down her nose.

"Really?"

Tony stuffed the rest of the muffin in his mouth, pushed Vanessa's glasses back on her face and turned to head back into his workshop.

"A brand new concept no one has dared tried? Brand new equipment to be built? Exploring something that may have been called impossible and doing it? Honey I do it all the time, I'm just glad you're finally latching on to my way of life!"

Vanessa and Pepper gave out a small laugh and then exchanged a small smile. It was the start of something big and they all new it.


	3. Chapter 3: The Accident

**AUTHOR NOTE: **_Hello all. Now in this chapter there are some details on the Vertical Velocity project but I fear that it may not seem tangible. Yet, again we are in a comic book universe. However, I did try to use some realistic facts of physics and velocity. I did have a whole notebook on this concept for this story but sadly in the transition of moving to my college it got lost. So, this is from memory. If there are any science people who would like to help me develop this concept more for possible use later in the story please PM me. _

* * *

Now that Vanessa looked back on it, it was a dumb idea.

To make a velocity acceleration chamber with a door was smart. Only having it open from the outside was pretty dumb. Sure, she needed it to be a completely controlled environment, but on the off chance you had to go in for repair and got in you couldn't get out. It locked on the other side.

However, she was thankful that it wasn't she who locked herself in there, thus making her Idiot of the Year.

Vanessa was working in the lab when it happened. Testing out the prototype gloves for her project. At this stage the gloves where connected to a vest that also connected with boots, and looked like some horrible vest someone had tried to make that ended up looking like cut out feety pajamas.

On the vest like suit where green directional arrows that pointed down each limb to symbolize the first few general directions she had to work with: up, down, left and right. Inside of the suit there where many monitoring pads that connected to her muscles in her limbs, down her back to connect to her brain stem, and a few extra wires that attached to her temples and forehead.

She used the velocity chamber to make controlled notes on how velocity worked in general. Then on how she could take those principals and make them work in a controlled environment based on someone's thought power and will.

She figured that it could work in theory, maybe even using a hydraulic pump for the metal objects but wondered if it could work for anything else. The more she looked into it she realized that she would also have to deal with controlling the gravity around the object as well.

It was complicated yes but she was up for it.

However, she wasn't too up for an argument or fight that day. So when the angry British business owner, who after being rejected for a merger with Stark Industries Clean Energy division with his rinky-dink company yesterday came in, she was none too happy.

"What are you doing in here? You don't have clearance." Said Vanessa who looked up from her notes to eye the man.

The man just glared at her with cold blue eyes, "I have an appointment. Remember? I want you to change your offer." His deep voice cold and threatening.

Vanessa pushed her glasses up as a look of recognition came upon her face.

"I remember you, you're that ass from yesterday." She said bitterly walking towards him.

He was a tall man, around six feet possibly and had curly dirty brown hair. She had to admit he was attractive and his accent was to die for be he acted too much like a privileged jerk. And this was saying something for her since she worked for Tony Stark.

He gave a small sneer, "My name is Sebastian Thomas. I was here yesterday on behalf of the Brighter Britain Alternate Energy Company."

"I said I remember." Vanessa replied, sitting on the edge of a worktop. "How could I forget? Your company had only been up and running for a year, made no new contribution to the energy field, and only had a net worth of eight million dollars. And you wanted to get Tony Stark to merge his energy division with you?"

Vanessa chuckled. The whole thing still sounded stupid. Even when Pepper told her about it that morning of the meeting the two of them had a really good laugh over it.

Sebastian continued to glare at the girl. His blood boiled at the thought of him being mocked by a low intern.

Someone who was there by chance or a referral, not someone who had worked their way to the top like he did. How dare she criticize his company and degrade his name.

The more he thought about it the angrier he became. He thought he should probably do something to get back at her. She looked like the type that would spend hours on a project to make it perfect. What better way to get back at her than destroy her stuff.

"You will withdraw your previous offer." He said, not as a statement but a command.

Vanessa looked at the man, a look of small shock upon her. She then broke out into a smirk.

"No. Mr. Stark gave me permission to have the last word on the matter and my word is no. N-O."

By this time she had gotten up from her seat on the worktable and walked towards the man, staring into his eyes defiantly. She was about five foot seven and only came up to the top of his chest. Sebastian smirked.

"You are a adorable thing aren't you? Thinking just because you got this one taste of power you think he will give you more."

"No, because I love this company and I will not see it go down the drain just because _you_ want _your_ first sip of power that you feel is so justly deserving of you."

Just that second there was a loud slap as Vanessa's head jerked to the left and Sebastian's hand was in the air.

Sebastian just stood still as he saw Vanessa rub her bruising cheek.

"Oh my God." He muttered as the realization hit him.

He had never struck a woman in his life. He prided himself on the fact that he was not as pathetic as to hit a woman to feel good. His anger had boiled over to the point where he had reacted without thinking.

Vanessa rubbed her cheek as she looked back at the man with hard brown eyes.

"I am so sorry. I honestly don-"

Sebastian was cut off as Vanessa's fist went flying into his nose. He staggered back as he held his hands to his face now covered in blood from the broken nose he now had.

"JARVIS get Stark down here now!" called Vanessa as Sebastian, standards be damned he though, charged back at her knocking them both onto a table full of chemicals.

They all clinked together as they fell and broke as Vanessa tried to throw Sebastian off of her. Broken glass crunching under their feet, he soon pinned her down on the table and as he did she lifted her left foot up high enough and pushed him in the chest. She quickly got up and ran towards the lab door.

But she was soon smashed violently against the velocity chamber door and the next thing she knew she was inside of it. Stuck. She clambered to be let out as Sebastian took his plan into action and began to ransack some of her lab.

Vanessa looked on in horror. This was not just any lab, but _her_ lab.

_Her_ lab that Tony had built just for her after the Vertical Velocity project was funded.

_Her_ lab that held millions of dollars worth of equipment and that if she thought about it too much, she wouldn't be able to touch anything of the fear she might break it and waste millions in equipment.

_Her_ lab that housed a full years worth of research and development. Prototypes, research notes, blueprints, and more.

To destroy her lab was his mission, all because she called him a "horrible cheat of a man" and asked how dumb he really was at thinking he could pull over Tony Stark.

However, he didn't get too far because at that point, after receiving a distress call on the other side of town Tony drove immediately back to his house. He came flying down the steps and busted open the lab door.

"Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?"

Sebastian looked at him with a grin. "I was coming back to hope that you would take my gracious offer of joining my company. But unfortunately your little intern made the same mistake and refused again."

Tony then realized that he couldn't see Vanessa and then found her inside the green glowing chamber. He saw her tear stained face, glasses falling off of her nose and a cut and bruise on her cheek.

"I see, you came to not only get arrested but your ass kicked as well." Said Tony as he took off his suit jacket.

Sebastian then walked over to the chamber and raised his hand over the side control panel. "Watch it. I don't know what this thing does but I'm pretty sure she isn't supposed to be in here when whatever it is happens."

Tony stopped. He was right about that. With such pressure in that little of space she could be thrown around like a rag doll at speeds up to 300mph and break a majority of her bones or worse rupture all her organs banging against that shatter proof glass.

"You know what." Sebastian said turning his cold blue eyes at Vanessa.

She stared at him with wide eyes with a look that screamed don't do it. And as Sebastian lowered his fingers on the keyboard he prayed that God would forgive him after what he did in this fit of rage.

With quick fingers he began to hit all the keys on the control panel.

"SHIT!" yelled Tony as he charged at him and pushed him away.

"Chamber activated. Doors on Automatic Lock." called JARVIS from overhead.

Vanessa began to violently bang against the sides of the camber as the overall prototype she was wearing began to spark and smoke. Tony pulled on the doors with all his strength but it was locked tight.

"JARVIS override this thing now!"

"I'm trying sir, but the controls are not responding and the prototype she is wearing is linked with her nerves, frontal lobe, cerebrum, brain stem-"

But JARVIS was cut off as a loud warning siren was heard.

"Warning: Acceleration limit reached. Brain activity abnormal. Commencing automatic self destruct safety precaution."

And just like that with a bloodcurdling scream the chamber exploded sending three bodies scattered over the lab.

After the initial shock Tony began to scramble around the room. His ears where ringing and the room was full of smoke. He stumbled around and soon saw the form of a woman lying on the floor.

Vanessa was barely conscious and the parts of the suit that melted off had left burning skin in the form of arrows behind. Tony quickly got onto the ground and put his ear to her mouth.

She was still breathing, but just faintly.

He was sure she would make it as JARVIS announced the arrival of the fire department and ambulance.


	4. Chapter 4: The Aftermath

AUTHOR NOTE: Hello all. I wanted to thank my frist reviewer tiarna13. Thank you! I also wanted to let you all know that I may be starting a drabble series as well. Since I am a student, and when writing long chapters may not be possible that week, these little drabbles would be able to satisfy you until a new chapter is up. Let me know what you think and I will let you know what I plan to do next chapter

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE AVENGERS, TONY STARK, PEPPER POTS, OR THE MARVEL UNIVERSE. THIS STORY IS MADE FOR THE PURE ENJOYMENT OF WRITING AND FOR READERS.** (so please don't sue me)

* * *

Since the horrible accident only a few things had changed for Vanessa and Tony. After Sebastian was arrested, Vanessa had to cancel the Vertical Velocity project. Mainly because majority of the equipment and research went up in smoke and it would cost too much money and time to bring back.

Vanessa, who made a full recovery, was however left scared. She had large scars of where the arrows where on her prototype left on her arms and legs. She hated those scars. They where just an everyday reminder of her failure.

But after five months of recovery she felt well enough to get back to work. However, after only a few weeks back when both her and Tony knew she wasn't really well.

She began to get sidesplitting headaches and at random times would pass out. Tony ran multiple tests on her only to find nothing really wrong. But they both knew better.

It wasn't until Vanessa and Tony got into a particularly heated argument one day that they realized she was far from okay or even normal.

As the conversation got more heated Vanessa began to glare hard at Tony as she normally does. But this time when she did she felt a heat radiating from the back of her eyes. Almost as if someone had lit a fire in her eye sockets and decided to push her eyes out to vent the smoke.

At that moment Tony said something, dumb probably she couldn't remember, and that was when she thought of throwing Tony half way across the room.

And that's where he ended up.

Tony was suddenly trusted back along the length of his living room before slamming with a sickening crunch against the door. Vanessa stopped her glaring and ran over to him panicking.

Tony looked up in a daze. Did she just push him? No. She didn't even touch him. Even if she did she wasn't THAT strong. He didn't even think a grown man could do that. Then how in the hell did he end up across the room?

After checking Tony over a full two weeks went by with out mention of the incident. Both where almost afraid to talk about it, as if it was a forbidden topic and if it was mentioned the world would explode.

However more incidents such as this kept popping up. Random pens flying around, cups smashed on the wall, and even a work desk during a particularly stressful day.

"Okay. Something is going on here." Said Tony as he sat in front of Vanessa in the lab.

He had asked her down there to help with fixing up his suit and while he was working Vanessa started to drift off and stare. The next thing Tony knew, a wrench was lodged into the chest plate of his suit.

"I know. I just don't get it though. Do you think there is a draft in this place?" said Vanessa pushing up her glasses, her caramel face flushing. She avoided his gaze almost as if it would avoid her from the truth.

"Vanessa. This is serious."

She looked up at him. He only ever used her full name when it was important.

Vanessa sighed. "I know."

"So, what's going on? It's obvious you're moving things around. I mean unless that wrench really doesn't like me but I don't think it could do that on its own."

Vanessa chuckled and looked to the side. "I mean it only happens when I concentrate. Like really hard on something and then I just look in another direction and the next thing I know…"

She trailed off as it hit her. She felt like a complete idiot for not realizing it earlier. This was the exact thing that happened in her dream: the dream that inspired-

"VERTICAL VELOCITY!" she yelled bolting up.

Tony gave her a confused look. "Come again?"

"Don't you see?" she said excited. "I AM VERTICAL VELOCITY!"

"The project?"

"Yeah! Something must have happened." She started as she paced back and forth

When I was trapped in that chamber something with that and the prototype I was wearing. It must have done something, because I am pretty sure I can now control velocity."

Tony sat there for a minute processing what she just said. It did make sense. He still wondered why he couldn't find anything when he tested her brain waves, but then realized it must not have kicked fully in by then.

"We'll have to run some other test then. I like this. It's finally starting to get interesting around here." He said with a grin.

That next day Tony and Vanessa went to Tony's private beach below his Californian home to run test.

Tony had strapped Vanessa up with a brain wave reader that basically looked like a headband with wires around it. He had also set up many random objects of random size and weight in a row. They ranged from a water bottle to a tire to a large wooden dresser.

"Okay. Move this stuff. And if your brain makes a significant change in its wavelength pattern JARVIS will record it. " Said Tony who popped a blueberry in his mouth.

"That's it? Just move it?" said Vanessa who had her hands on her hips. She had her hair up in a ponytail and a sports bra and yoga pants on. She expected to have her heart rate monitored and to go through rough physical training.

But no, just move the stuff.

"Yeah. Just move it. I don't care where. Oh! Not near me though. Or my face. It's my money maker." He said still eating blueberries.

Vanessa sighed, "Okay Mr. Stark."

Vanessa took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She started with the water bottle and started to stare at it.

_ Come on damn you move. _She thought as she continued to stare.

Suddenly the burning feeling in her eyes came back as she noticed that the bottle started to shake.

She started to get excited but remembered that she needed to concentrate.

_Okay, now first push it toward you._

Vanessa concentrated and imagined the bottle coming at her. Suddenly with surprising force the bottle trusted towards her. She quickly dodged her head as the bottle smashed into the sand with a loud thud.

Tony gave a low whistle, "That's some punch you got Mike Tyson. How 'bout you calm that down a bit."

Vanessa looked back at the bottle and pushed her glasses up. This was going to be even harder that she imagined.

But luckily she liked a challenge.


	5. Chapter 5: The Sidekick

**AUTOR NOTE: **Hello all, sorry that this chapter took a while. I had a paper for my religion lecture do and as you know school goes first! Anyway I hope that you like this chapter. I also decided to go along with the drabble series so look for that tomorrow. It will be called "All Down Hill"

**DISCLAMER NOTE: ONCE AGAIN I DO NOT OWN TONY STARK, PEPPER POTTS, THE AVENGERS OR THE MARVEL UNIVERSE. THIS STORY IS MADE FOR THE PURE ENJOYMENT OF WRITING AND THE ENTERTAINMENT OF THE FANS.** (so don't sue me)

* * *

As the months went on Vanessa was surprised to see how fast she adapted to her new powers. By making up her own training simulations she was able to control the speed of her objects much better as well as the direction (she also figured that directional control with her hands gave the objects a more accurate way to go). She was also close on learning how to make herself levitate by slowing down and speeding up her velocity and the same time.

Tony was impressed by not how fast she was learning, but at how powerful his little intern was. He knew she had a strong personality but never knew she had that much fight in her. He was impressed to say the least.

So as Vanessa practiced moving multiple objects around in Tony's lab, Tony just sat and watched. With his feet kicked up on his desk and chair leaning back he watched amused and amazed at how good she was getting. She sat legs crossed on the floor in her normal black business suit and skirt with her favorite green top. She stared straight ahead as random objects rotated around her at the same speed. Almost as if she was a planet with an orbit around her.

"Sir, there is a distress call." Came JARVIS.

"What is it?" Tony said

"It seems that a man is robbing a bank in LA. Crister First National Bank. According to police reports he is moving cars and various other larger objects and is throwing them at police officers."

Tony sat back up in his chair. Vanessa, who had stopped to hear JARVIS, gave him a quizzical look.

"How is that possible?" she said.

"I don't know," said Tony getting up. "But I'm about to find out."

"Wait a second." Said Vanessa running at him. "I'm coming with you."

"What? No." said Tony as he walked over to a platform and stood. There five large mechanical arms began to strap him into his Iron Man suit.

"Yes I am. It's my job Mr. Stark. I am to look over you while Pepper is away. Besides, I don't want you to die yet. How would I ever cash my paychecks?" She said with a smirk.

Tony gave her a pout. "So that's all I am to you is a pay check?"

"No, Mr. Stark but I'm still coming with you."

"No, Ms. Travis and thank you I guess."

Tony stepped down from the platform with a loud clank and started to walk over to the landing pad on the outside of the lab. Vanessa trailed right behind him as she walked out too. The sun shone brightly as the wind whipped against her face.

It was such a calm day. Too calm she guessed for some people's liking.

Tony started to put on his helmet before feeling someone grab his hands. Vanessa stood in front of him her hands on top of his.

"Mr. Stark, I am going with you. Point blank period. I promise I won't interfere and you and I both know I won't do anything stupid. But I will be at a safe distance just to make sure I can report to Pepper you're safe. "

Vanessa gave him a hard look, being very careful not to think about moving Tony.

Tony only looked at her as he jerked away his hands and put on his helmet. The gears turned as the golden face clamped down and its eyes produced a blue glow.

He then grabbed her by the waist and pulled her towards him. "Better hold on four eyes and clench up. I don't want Pep biting my head off because you lost a leg or something."

And with that they took off in the air.

Vanessa always liked heights. She loved when she had to go over seas or in another state with Tony because that meant she had to fly. So whipping through the air as fast as she was made her extremely happy. So much so that she couldn't stop smiling.

"You get to fly like this all the time?" she shouted.

"Yep, it's pretty nice. Except if you hit something, like a seagull." He replied.

Soon the pair was flying over a palm tree covered street. Police cars where turned over every which way along with mailboxes and even a construction cement mixer. The few police cars that remained up right where being used as shields by the few officers on the ground.

Tony headed down and placed Vanessa at a near by café about 100 feet away from the scene.

"Now stay." He said as he flew off to the flipped over cars.

As Tony flew above he saw the police officers notice him. He then landed and walked towards them.

"What's the situation?" he said.

"T-t-this guy." Said the thin officer. His long face stuck in a showing of disbelief. "He shouts and stuff moves."

"What?"

"He yells and-"

"EEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGG GHHHHHHH!" came a high pitch scream and cut the officer off.

Everyone went and clutched their heads and tried to cover their ears.

Tony shouted in pain and clutched at his head as well. Since his microphone amplified the sound even more it hurt twice as much. Tony was surprised that he wasn't deaf after this. He suit couldn't take it either as his display began to fizzle in and out.

The sound was so powerful that one of the police cars flipped over and began to roll into the near by palm trees before crashing into them.

Soon the screaming stopped and Tony looked at where the sound came from. There stood a very skinny young man with a buzz cut to his blond hair. He had a very visible deep scar running over the front of his neck. His clothes that looked one size too big hung off of him as he stood glaring with cold green eyes at the police.

Vanessa, after hearing the horrible high-pitched scream, ran closer towards the scene and saw the young man standing in all his rage. She pushed her glasses up and bit her lip. She didn't really know how Tony would handle this. He couldn't blast him because he would be killed yet, if Tony got close enough that scream may discombobulate him for too long that the guy may get away.

Tony started to walk towards the man slowly. "Hey now. Inside voice please. Now just come with me and end this."

The man just tilted his head and looked strait ahead again. He then took in a deep breath.

"Oh no you don't." said Tony just as he was about to scream Tony fired near the man's feet.

The force of the blast caused the man to fall on the ground. At that moment Tony went and flew towards him and began to lift him into the sky.

"Okay, I'm going to need you to calm down and shut up. I would say you could join a heavy metal band to let out all this rage but I don't think that would be a good idea."

The man struggled in the grip Tony had on him. His legs kicking underneath him.

"EEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHH HHHHHHH!" he screamed again.

"SON OF A BITCH!" screamed Tony as his suit fizzled once again and his grip on the man loosened.

"Sir the suit is mal-" came JARVIS but his voice began to cut off and Tony's screen went black.

Both bodies started to fall out of the sky at a alarming pace.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit. Come one baby, come on start, START!" said Tony as his suit began to start up again. The lights in his helmet flickering as they struggled to start up.

Just then he noticed he wasn't falling as fast as he was. In fact he had stopped falling altogether. As his screen came back online he looked to see that he was only seven feet from the ground. his left to see the man stopped in midair as well. He noticed that the man's green eyes where focused on something, and everyone else was staring in that direction as well.

He turned to see Vanessa, with both of her arms stretched towards them. She then moved her right hand and made a quick flicking motion. As soon as she did the man went flying back and tumbled on to the ground knocking him unconscious. Vanessa then slowly brought her left hand down and Tony was gently lowered onto the ground.

The police continued to stare at her, debating internally if what they just saw actually happened.

"Well, just don't stand there gapping like morons! Go get him!" Vanessa barked out as the officers then ran over to the green eyed man.

Tony walked over to Vanessa, "I though I told you to stay."

Vanessa smiled, "You did, but I thought you could use some help. In fact wouldn't you like some help every now and again?"

Tony sighed, "Should I even answer or is this going in the direction I think it is?"

"Let me be your sidekick."

"No."

"Why?"

"Too dangerous. You are too valuable to the company to put in harms way like that."

"This coming from the owner of the company who's life I just saved only a minute ago?"

"That's besides the point."

"No, the point is that everyone needs help Tony. Even Iron Man."

Vanessa gave him a soft yet stern look. "If I wasn't here today and your suit still shorted out on you what would you do?"

"Well, it was starting up again before you slowed me down-"

"No Mr. Stark stop that. Sometimes there isn't a way out. Sometimes there is no saving play. If I weren't here to slow you down, your suit would have started up as soon as you hit the ground. Then what? You in the hospital? No thanks."

Vanessa sighed. "Look, I am offering my help because you need to be kept safe. The world needs its Tony Stark."

Tony took off his helmet and looked at Vanessa. Her brown eyes had gotten even softer during her speech. He looked back at her with the same expression.

"The world needs its Vanessa Travis too."

Vanessa gave a small chuckle, "Not as much as it needs you. I can't do this just to help out a friend?"

Tony, who had put his gaze to the side for a second locked his eyes back on her. "Did you just say that I was your friend?"

Vanessa's eyes grew wide. "Ummm. No. You're my boss. That's it. I just don't want to see you hurt."

Tony grinned, "No I heard it. You said friend. I knew one day I would worm in that little corporate heart of yours. Okay, I will accept your offer on a few conditions."

Vanessa grinned and nodded her head. "Yes, of course. What are they?"

"One, I get to design you a suit."

"Sure. I would be honored."

"I know you would. Two, you have to call me Tony. I know it's your whole "I'm a professional" thing but if we are going to start saving each other's ass on a daily basis then we need to be on first names."

"I do save your ass in the press all the time but okay…Tony."

Tony grinned, "That's more like it. Now let's head back, we got some work to do."

He put back on his helmet and grabbed Vanessa.

"Wait." She said. "Do you think Pepper will be okay with it?"

"Yeah, I'm sure she will."


	6. Chapter 6: The Time Between

**Author Note:** Hi again. Sorry for the extra wait and also the notification of the new story. It was the wrong document that got selected and when I took it down the whole story went with it. But that's okay. Also just so you know chapters may be a bit slow after this for I have to prepare for midterms. But I am writing love one-shots and mini stories for you all. So enjoy.

* * *

Pepper wasn't okay with it.

She blamed Tony mostly, even though he insisted that he told Vanessa no. Although Pepper was against it she knew better than to argue with the two most hardheaded people she has ever known.

It took about a fully year or so before Vanessa started to fight with Tony as Iron Man's right hand man. First came suit development, which was a very rocky place to start.

Due to Tony's condition of designing her suit, his first ideas where, as Vanessa put it, stupid as shit.

The first suit he drew out was more of a two piece bikini set in black and short leather gloves with a eye mask to cover her face.

"This is funny." Vanessa said when she saw it, "Call me down when you finish it."

The second suit had black shorts with green stripes on the bottom, while the top got even smaller. It also didn't help that Tony continued to draw the model with large breast.

Vanessa just frowned at him. "I am not that heavy chested."

"Well then what's your size? About 34 C?"

Vanessa flushed and pushed her glasses up her nose. "How the hell do you know that?!"

Tony just chuckled and continued to draw.

After a few more attempts (some more skimpier than the last) the pair finally settled on something.

It was a black cat suit with a Kevlar can cotton mix, with green arrows going down the arms and legs of the suit and two arrows starting at her shoulders, crisscrossing in the front of her suit and stopping at her thighs. Tony had also made her special black jet boots and gloves that held rocket jets in them, very similar to his own design on his suit but more suiting for Vanessa's thin legs and slim arms.

Instead of a mask though Tony gave her a helmet. It almost looked like a black motorcycle helmet but when she put it on a wide green and blue display screen came to life.

"This was Pepper's idea." Tony said as he polished it up. "She is just as worried for you as she is for me. Even more so I think. She wants to make sure you have contact with JARVIS incase something goes wrong."

So Vanessa trained with her new suit and helmet and even figured out how to make herself fly with out the use of the jets. But they did come in handy for when she wanted to go faster without the extra effort.

On her first trip out with Tony she did great. Although she went by unnoticed. The second time however a bystander took a picture of her. The next thing she knew she was front page with Iron Man with the headline "IRONMAN'S NEW GIRL: MYSTERIOUS WOMAN WITH INCREDIDIBLE POWER."

Soon people began to write about who she was or could be. Where she came from and what she may look like. But the one they wrote about the most was her name.

From many eyewitness accounts of her velocity powers some people called her Speed or Quickfire or X-ccelerate. However one paper commented on her flying one time at "the vertigo inducing of height of what appeared to be at least 125 feet."

So the next time she and Tony went out she ended up saving a young woman from being crushed by debris.

"Wait!" said the woman who had dust and dirt over her freckled face, "Who are you?"

Vanessa turned to face the woman, her freckled face staring back at her from the shiny black visor of the helmet.

"Vertigo." Came Vanessa's slightly distorted voice and with that she took off into the sky.

Soon Vertigo became front page news and was noticed all over the nation.

She even caught the attention of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.


	7. Chapter 7: The SHEILD

**AUTHOR NOTE:** Sorry this took so long, homework this week was horrible.

* * *

Agent Dominic Dawson had been working for SHEILD for only a few months. He came just as the Vertigo hype started. So since he was fresh out of training they decided to put him behind a desk to research this Vertigo person.

It bothered him yes as he couldn't really figure out who she was at first. He then pinpointed it down to two people: Pepper Potts or Vanessa Travis. He found this out through body types of women who knew Tony Stark but no one in the department really wanted to ask about his process with that.

Dominic had double-checked his facts and eventually went to his superior, Agent Phil Coulson, to give him his final answer.

"Are you sure it's Ms. Travis Agent Dawson?" Coulson asked as he checked the file Dawson had compiled on Vanessa.

"Positive sir." Said Dawson as he stood next to Coulson with the posture of a soldier and the gaze of a warrior. He stared a hard at the file

Coulson always thought that Dawson's talents would be wasted behind a desk. But he didn't make those kinds of calls at S.H.E.I.L.D.

"Okay then come with me." Said Coulson as they walked through the S.H.E.I.L.D base and towards the landing strip of the jet planes.

"Where are we gong sir?" yelled Dawson over the plane engine, his short, slicked back black hair becoming messy from the force of the wind.

"Stark is working on a new place of operations in New York. He has a temporary penthouse that him and his assistants are staying at. We need to see if Ms. Travis is there."

Vanessa sat behind Tony's desk as she chewed on her pen top. Tony had assigned her the task of cleaning his desk and organizing his computer files, which was probably a good idea. As soon as Tony hit the computer now, he would go on the Internet and go in search of vintage cars to blow money on. He said it was his way to de-stress after a long day of building Stark Tower.

As Vanessa typed into the computer JARVIS's voice broke her train of thought.

"Miss Agent Coulson and Dawson are at the door. They request to speak with you."

"Who?" said Vanessa as she got up from her chair. She walked towards the front door of the suite.

She gazed out of the peephole to see two men looking around in the hallway. One man appeared to be in his 40s with brown hair and had a very sweet yet stern disposition. While the young man next to him with hard hazel eyes and black hair, looked to be around her own age of 23 and looked like he was ready to snap someone's neck.

_Maybe if I'm quiet, they will think no one is home._

"Miss can you please open the door we know you're there. We have a rather important issue to discuss with you."

"Shit." She mumbled and opened the door. The two men walked right in and the man with the brown hair held out a card in front of Vanessa.

"Hello, Ms. Travis I am Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.E.I.L.D and this is Agent Dominic Dawson. We are here to talk to you about your new job."

Vanessa took the card and looked at it, then looked back at Coulson.

"I've been working this job for a good two years now. I wouldn't call it new."

"No, your other career." Said Dawson as he took a picture from his inside suit pocket and held it in her face.

"The one that requires you to fly around."

Vanessa had a slight wave of shock. It was a picture of her as Vertigo flying next to Iron Man.

"What makes you think that's me? Yes Mr. Stark is Iron Man but that doesn't mean-"

"Look we know it's you and we need to ask you some questions so stop this horrible "I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about" act because it's getting old fast."

Vanessa was taken a back just a bit. No one has really spoken to her like that since her accident.

"Well why should I talk to you? You could be FBI or CIA for all I know." Said Vanessa as she put her hands on her hips.

"We just want to know how you acquired your powers and if you would be willing to come to our headquarters to run some test. And if Director Fury likes what he sees then we may even have a bigger proposition for you." Coulson said as he gently maneuvered Dawson away from Vanessa.

The last thing he needed was for Dawson to make her mad enough to vault him out of the window.

Vanessa, who was still holding Coulson's card, flipped it between her fingers. "You realize I will have to talk to Mr. Stark about this."

Coulson gave a very small smile that went as fast as it came. "As much as I think that is a bad idea something tells me you are going to do it anyway. But fine. Just please Miss. Travis call us as soon as possible if you have made up your mind."

And just as quick as they came they left. Vanessa sat back at Tony's desk for most of the day twiddling the card in her hands. She wondered if she should call them? Tell them the truth? Just then Tony came in the room rambling on about something but paused when Vanessa didn't tell him to shut up.

Tony headed over to the desk and sat down on it. His sunglasses still on as he looked down at Vanessa. "Hey Loch-Nessa what's wrong?"

Vanessa gave him a small glare. She hated this new nickname he came up for her after she mentioned once about her phase of trying to find the Loch Ness Monster when she was little. Back when she wanted to be a explorer and find mythical creatures like mermaids.

Vanessa handed him the card and waited for his response as he looked at it. "Oh. Well I personally wouldn't tell them anything. But, you may want to. These guys are the best of the best. If they don't find out today, they will tomorrow. So I would also suggest that if you have any porn on your Internet history you clear it cuz they'll find that too."

Vanessa just laughed and hit Tony on the leg. He smiled and hopped off the table. "I'll be in the lab if needed. I think I'll make some upgrades on your suit."

Vanessa pulled out her cell phone and looked at the card still on the desk. "Thanks Mr.- I mean thanks Tony." She called back as she dialed the number.

They arranged to meet the next day at a hotel room somewhere in the Bronx. As Vanessa went up to the counter to get the specified room key, she hoped that this wasn't a set up to take her away and to be experimented upon.

She gipped the collar of her thin sweater and drummed her left hand on her leg. Even though it was spring in New York, the wind on that particular day had picked up so much it made it feel like an early fall.

When she reached the room Agent Coulson and Dawson where sitting in two chairs they grabbed from the two desk in the room. They looked up and nodded at her as she sat in front of them on one of the two beds. She picked the one closest to the door incase she needed to make a break.

"Now, tell us just how you are able to manipulate the velocity around you."

Vanessa pushed up her glasses and started to roll up her sweater sleeves. Dawson, who had been staring at Vanessa with a cold glare since she arrived, noticed her sudden change of mood when she started to roll her sleeves. Even though she was nervous already she now looked as if she was revealing a painful secret.

And that was when they saw the scars. The long dark scars that raised up in some places and stayed down in others. The start of the scar, that started on her wrist looked like the point of an arrow and then kept on going down the length of her arm.

"It started the day I got these scars."

Vanessa walked into penthouse and collapsed on the couch. She sighed as she took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes with her thumb and pointer finger.

"Hey, I asked you to hand me that wrench." Came Tony's voice.

She looked up and saw him spread out on the kitchen table with her suit gloves.

"How long ago?" she said as she got up and walked towards him.

"Bout and hour ago."

Vanessa looked at the counter just an arms reach from him where the wrench rested. "It's right next to you!"

"I don't feel like moving."

Vanessa groaned and threw down the wrench on the table and pulled out a chair and rested her head in her hands.

"So where were you today?"

"I went and talked to Dawson and Coulson. They put me in a database and mentioned something about a project that may be starting up again. Apparently it was scrapped. He said you would know about it."

"Yeah, the Avengers Initiative. Captain Hook came to talk to me about it over the years. I'm surprised you didn't figure out about it."

"That was because you kept giving me all your work to do before my accident. I didn't have time to be sneaky."

"Yeah," Tony looked up from his work at looked at Vanessa. "You said he mentioned it may be starting up again?"

"Yeah."

Tony chuckled, "Fury is one stubborn son for a bitch I'll give him that."

"What?"

"Nothing, now put your glasses on Loch-Nessa and help me with these."


	8. Chapter 8: The Iniative

**AUTHOR NOTE:** Okay everyone; this is where the movie kicks in. So please enjoy. And sorry that this took so long to write. Also remember that reviews make authors happy. So please do review, and constructive criticism is welcomed. Rude and offensive comments will not be taken into account.

* * *

Vanessa hovered over the murky blue water as she looked out on the New York City skyline. It always looked beautiful around this time of night to her. The lights from the skyscrapers danced on the water almost as if they where reflecting the night sky and the stars in it.

"Okay, send the last one." Came Tony through her earpiece.

Vanessa tossed a thin metal ring in the air and with a flick of her hand sent it on a path straight into the water to Tony down below. It was one of the last touches that needed to be made before Stark Tower would go live.

"Alright that's it. Let's head back." Said Tony as he came flying out of the water. The pair turned towards each other and then flew in towards the city.

"We're good to go on this end, the rest is up to you." Came Tony as he flew ahead of Vanessa and over the glowing city street.

"Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self sustaining energy."

"That is assuming that the acr reactor takes over and works this time." Came Pepper.

"Fire her up." Came Tony as the pair headed straight for the tower.

Vanessa smiled as each floor of lights came on followed by bright blue letters that spelled out STARK on the top front of the building.

"How does it look?" asked Pepper.

"It's wonderful." Vanessa mumbled.

"It's like Christmas, but with more me." Said Tony.

"Anyway, Pepper we need to get some press on this ASAP, getting the Associated Press, New York Times, and-" started Vanessa but she was soon cut off by Tony.

"Girls you're killing me remember enjoy the moment," said Tony as he landed on a platform at the top of the building and Vanessa landed on the balcony.

"Well get in here and I will." Said Pepper in a slightly seductive tone.

"Well I know when I'm a third wheel." Said Vanessa before she took of her helmet and shook out her hair.

Vanessa walked towards the sliding glass door Pepper had opened for her and was soon given a champagne glass.

"You still need to toast with us first." she said smiling.

Vanessa took the glass and smiled. "Okay, but if you and Mr. Stark start trying to make out I'm flying out of here."

The two walked back into the warm lounge as Tony came through wearing a black shirt and black pants. He looked over to them and then frowned.

"Why do you still have on your suit?" he asked looking at Vanessa as he made his way towards another glass of champagne over by the bar.

"I have you to thank for that." Said Vanessa as she sat down on the couch and crossed her legs, her left arm leaning on her helmet that sat next to her.

"If you didn't make this thing so damn tight Mr. Stark I could have had another layer of clothes under here. So pardon me for staying in my work clothes and parading around in my underwear. I'll leave that area up to you."

" 'Mr. Stark.' I thought we settled that Nessa."

Tony walked back over to her and Pepper with a smile. "This is a celebration. I have my best girls with me who's minor contributions helped to make Stark Towers possible."

"Umm excuse me but I think Pepper and I should get majority if the credit." Said Vanessa and Pepper gave a small mouthed out Thank You.

"Um, yeah but I did all the heavy lifting," started Tony but stopped as Vanessa gave him a glare. "Okay most of it disregarding Vanessa shooting the nails in the steel bars and throwing steel rods all over the place."

"Okay then how much do you think both of us should get?" said Pepper as Vanessa jumped up to join her.

"Yeah, Mr. Stark what percentage?"

Tony waved his hand some, "Oh I would say about 12 percent."

"Twelve percent?" said Vanessa and Pepper as both put their hands on their hips.

"But I promise the next tower will say POTTS on it. With another building next to it that says TRAVIS."

Vanessa just gave a sarcastic laugh and sat back down on the couch as Pepper and Tony talked some more.

"Sir Agent Coulson says this is a urgent matter he needs to speak to you on." Came JARVIS.

"Then tell him to leave it urgently." Came Tony as Pepper looked at him.

"What?" she ask.

"Nothing, just-"

"Sir my protocol is being rewritten." JARVIS started but his voice soon faded out

Suddenly Tony's phone rang, he picked it up and a man's voice could be heard yelling through. "Stark, I need to talk to you this is-"

"Hello you have reached the life model of Tony Stark. I am unable to answer your call so please leave a message."

"This is urgent." Came the voice.

"Then leave it urgently." Said Tony.

At that moment the elevator swished opened and in walked Agent Coulson, followed by Agent Dawson.

"Phil." Said Pepper with a smile as she got up towards him.

"Phil?" said Tony as his followed, "Um, his first name is 'Agent'."

Vanessa quickly glanced up as she saw Coulson and Dawson standing in the entrance. It had been only a few weeks since her talk with them. She wondered why they where coming back.

"Hello Mr. Stark, Ms. Potts."

Pepper smiled as she nodded towards Dawson, "A new face I see. Hello I'm Pepper Potts."

Dawson gave her a half hearted smile, "Yes, I know I'm Agent Dominic Dawson. Hello. We are here to talk to Mr. Stark about something rather important."

Coulson cleared his throat and took out a black metal folder like device with a glass screen. "We need you to look these over."

"I don't like being handed things." Said Tony.

"But I do." said Vanessa who quickly got up from the couch and took the folder from Coulson. She then gave Coulson her glass and shoved the folder in Tony's hands as she took his glass.

"Nice to see you again Ms. Travis." Said Coulson with a small smile.

"Nice to see you too Agent Coulson. I see you brought back your very talkative partner." Vanessa said nodding to Dawson.

Dawson just gave her a hard glare and went back to looking at Tony.

"Well unfortunately consulting hours are between 8 and 5 on alternating Thursdays."

"Oh is this about the Avengers?" Said Pepper "Which I know nothing about." She quickly recoiled after Dawson gave her a looked that screamed shock and anger and her knowledge of such, what he thought to be, classified information.

Tony opened the file as he walked over to a near by control panel.

"The Avenger Initiative was scrapped from what I heard. And besides I thought I didn't qualify."

"I didn't know that either." Said Pepper who glanced over at Dawson who still gave her a hard stare.

"Yeah, I believe they said I was "volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others" if I remember."

"Well it sounds just like you." Said Vanessa as she looked back at Dawson who was still glaring at Pepper.

Vanessa took a drink from her glass and snapped her fingers in front of Dawson's face. He quickly jolted and looked at her.

"Hey, put your eyes away okay. It's not intimidating anymore, it's just annoying now."

Dawson gave her a small sneer, "I really don't care if you find it intimidating or not, but pardon me if I'm just socked that classified information is just thrown about around here like some horribel gossip."

Tony laughed from the back of the room, "You must be new here."

"Well Mr. Stark, this isn't just about personality profiles anymore." Said Coulson.

"Ms. Potts if you could come here just a second." Called Tony as he waved Pepper over with his hand.

"Be right back." She said as she scurried off.

Vanessa stood there along with Coulson and Dawson as the couple talked in the corner. Vanessa looked around and pushed up her glasses. Awkward silence was uncomfortable to her. Since she worked for Tony, and he always had something stupid or interesting to say, silence in general just felt strange now. It kind of surprised her since before she worked for Tony silence never bothered her before.

"Is this your suit?" said Dawson after a minute of silence.

Vanessa looked up in shock. "Yeah."

"It's inadequate." He said plainly, as if it was obvious for everyone to see.

"Excuse me?" said Vanessa as she became quickly irritated.

"You're exposed. Even though that is Kevlar you aren't fully protected against stronger weaponry."

"Tony Stark made this suit for me, and you are going to say that a suit made by Iron Man is inadequate?"

"Yes."

"Oh I suppose you could do better?"

"I can." Dawson replied with a small self satisfying smirk.

Vanessa's eyes went wide as she put her drink down on a nearby table and put her hands on her hips.

"Look here you egotistical son of a-"

"Ms. Travis! You're needed!" called Tony from the back.

Vanessa turned to look at Tony, who only replied with a "Come here Nessa." She then gave Dawson a small sneer and quickly turned around and walked towards Tony. As she walked over Pepper left his side and went out of the building with Coulson and Dawson behind.

"Making friends are we?" said Tony with a small smile as he fiddled around on the touchscreen board in front of him.

"He never says anything and when he does he is rude as hell. One day I will punch him square in the jaw and use that force to send him flying through a wall." Said Vanessa as she looked at the 3-D holographic screen.

On the screen where various profile files open and videos playing. One had a enormous green man throwing cars on the street, another had a man shooting arrows and a red headed woman firing a gun in the desert, another was of a huge metal giant, that almost looked like a robot, fire a beam of light from its face as it stomped down a small town street, the last video playing showed a excavation crew bringing a huge piece of ice and from what Vanessa could see, what looked to be a man inside of it.

"What's this?" said Vanessa as she looked on in awe.

"This is our homework Nessa, so brew us up some coffee and I'll get the scotch. Pepper is off to Washington so you'll be my study partner tonight. Also you may want to change into something more comfortable, we'll be up for awhile."

Vanessa nodded as she went towards the elevator, grabbing her helmet along the way. Before the elevator doors closed she saw Tony pick up a hologram of a blue box and stare at it, as the doors shut in Vanessa's face.


	9. QUICK AUTHOR NOTE

**AUTHOR NOTE**

Hello everyone, and I am sorry that updates have stopped so suddenly. I recently lost a very close family member last week and I have been dealing with that and family while we made the funeral arrangements. We laid him to rest last Friday and I am feeling a little better, though still sad. But, a update should be just around the corner. As well as the start of the Vertical Velocity drabbles "All Down Hill."

I thank you for your patience and cooperation and I looked forward to posting this chapter hopefully this week.

Thank you,

TheDiscombobulatedDiva


	10. Chapter 9: The Fallen God Part 1

**AUTHOR NOTE:** _Hi and I want to say thank you to those of you who sent me kind words of support and to those that have kept me in their thoughts. Thank you so much. Now this chapter was suposed to be longer but because I felt like you all waited so long for a chapter here it is. Part 2 will be up fast. _

_Also the short story series "All Down Hill" is up. Go check it out and if you have a prompt idea please leave it for me in a review for either story or PM me._

* * *

Natasha Romanoff looked at the scene before her as she hovered above in the stealth jet. The blue figure that was Captain America, Steve Rogers, and the figure with the trimmed gold, Loki, where moving around too fast. She couldn't get a lock on fast enough to shoot and didn't want to risk hitting Steve. The last time she shot she almost hit him. She watched as Steve was tossed to the side on the dark ground.

As she pondered her situation she swore she heard music playing through her headset. Suddenly the faint sound of a guitar turned louder as she looked down at her control panels to see ACCESS SPEAKER OVERRIDE in large red letters.

"Agent Romanoff," Came a static filled voice.

Natasha smirked. She hadn't heard that voice in awhile, yet she knew it to be Tony Stark.

"Miss me?" he said and soon the music that was once just heard in her headset blared out through the ship's speakers.

" 'Shoot to Kill', really Mr. Stark?" came another voice that sounded slightly exasperated.

On the ground Loki and Steve looked up to see where the music was coming from. Just then two figures came speeding towards them. One left a trail of red and yellow light while the other was dark and thinner than the first but outlined in green light. A large beam shot out of the larger figure and hit Loki dead on. He shot back towards the steps of the museum as the figures landed on the ground.

Loki looked up and started to run towards his staff that had gotten knock out of his hand from the blast. He only made it two steps before he saw the smaller figure make a fist and then push towards him. He was then slammed into the ground at such a speed, the concrete beneath him cracked. Tony then walked over towards him and opened up all of his missile and cannon blasters on his suit while Vanessa stood with her hands up ready to blast Loki back further if she had to.

"Make your move Reindeer Games." Said Tony as Steve rushed to the pair's side.

Loki looked up at the trio as his helmet and golden embellishments began to disappear as he put his hands up in surrender.

"Good move." Said Tony as he put all of the weaponry offline.

The three stood there for a moment before the sound of the carrier landing filled the silence.

"Mr. Stark." Said Steve as he nodded towards him.

"Captain." He replied.

The carrier landed and both Tony and Steve grabbed Loki and boarded him on. The group rode in silence for a while as they flew in the night sky. Vanessa noticed that the sky was brighter tonight due to a full moon and that is made the normally black inky sky a very beautiful midnight blue. She would have rather been flying outside then have to be on the same ship as this crazy Norse god.

Vanessa, who along with Tony took off her helmet a while ago, sat opposite of Loki while Steve and Tony stood by the pilot's seats. Her eyes wandered around the cabin looking at various things until she began to feel a pair of eyes on her. She looked up to see Loki staring at her.

"Is there something on my face?" said Vanessa "Because I may have a hole there now since you keep on staring at me like that."

Loki just smirked, "I would like to know how you did that."

"How I did what?"

"How you managed to push me into ground. You did not move towards me or even touch me. I must say that what you have is very useful."

"Too bad you won't find out how it's done." Said Vanessa as she got up from her seat and moved over to Steve and Tony.

She crossed her arms as she glanced back at Loki again and pushed up her glasses. "Hey, how much longer is this ride? He's starting to creep me out and annoy me at the same time."

"Sorry about that ma'am." Said Steve as he looked down at Vanessa. "It shouldn't be that much farther."

"Thanks." she said as she looked up at Steve, took another glance at Loki, and looked back up at Steve. He was a handsome man and those pictures in the files Vanessa reviewed did him no justice in person. His hair was a golden blond and he had very shinny blue eyes. He looked like a poster child for American heroism from the 1950s. How fitting.

"By the way, doesn't anyone else think it's strange that he didn't put up much of a fight? I mean I don't remember taking anyone like that down being that easy."

"Well still you are very spry for a older fellow. What's your thing? Pilates?"

Steve gave Tony and annoyed confused stare as Vanessa hid her face in her hand.

"What?"

"It's like calestetics. You may have missed some things, you know, spending time as a Capsicle."

Steve's expression didn't change but Vanessa could practically see his tolerance for Tony almost wipeout.

"Pardon me." Said Vanessa with a smile at Steve as she quickly turned and smacked Tony upside the head.

"Oww! What was that for?" he said rubbing the spot.

"Stop being rude Mr. Stark." Whispered Vanessa.

"How many times do I have to tell you not "Mr. Stark" Tony. Come on say it with me."

He grabbed Vanessa's cheeks and pushed them together moving them and her mouth.

"Tooonnyyy. Tooonnny."

Vanessa smacked his hand down and gave his a hard glare. Before she could utter another scolding the plane suddenly jerked as thunder and lighting rang and light up the sky.

"Where did this come from?" said Natasha.

As everyone looked around Steve saw Loki look a little bit anxious.

"What's the matter? Afraid of a little lightning?"

Loki looked at the three, "I'm not overly fond of what follows." He said slowly.

At that moment the plane jerked again but this time more violently, and something sounded as if it landed on the top of the plane. Steve, Tony and Vanessa quickly put back on their headgear as Natasha stabilized the plane. As Vanessa put on her helmet and her screen came to life she saw Tony hit the ramp door open.

"Mr. Stark are you crazy!" she shouted.

Just then a blond man with a red flowing cape landed on the ramp. With a hammer in his hand he looked just about furious to Vanessa. As he walked closer Tony raised up his hand ready to fire a repulsor beam. Instead the man quickly thrust his hammer at Tony and he went flying to the back of the plane and crashing into Steve.

"Tony!" came Vanessa. She then quickly thrust her hands at the blond man and he suddenly went flying out of the plane. It was only at that point that she realized he had another person with him, the only other person who was missing on the plane: Loki.

Tony quickly got up and headed towards the still open cargo hatch.

"He took Loki. We need a plan." Said Vanessa quickly but paused when she saw Tony. "Tony we need a plan."

"Who the hell was that guy?"

"Another Assguardian?" came Natasha who was once again trying to steady the plane.

"You think these guys are friendly?" came Steve as he got himself up.

"Doesn't matter if we loose Loki the tesseract is lost." He said getting closer to the open hatch.

"Tony are you crazy? I just said we need a plan!"

"She's right Stark. We can't just rush in there we need a plan of attack!"

"I have a plan, attack." He said as he bolted out of the plane.

"He's gonna get himself killed." Said Vanessa growling as she ran off of the plane and fell into the clouds. The sound of Steve calling her name drifting as the rushing wind took over her ears. She quickly started up her flight stabilizers and focused on going faster as she tried to follow the smoke trail Tony left behind.


	11. Chapter 9: The Fallen God Part 2

**AUTHOR NOTE:** Sorry for such a short chapter, but I have finals coming up, but I do have some one shots ready for you all. Also for whoever can guess the little easter egg I put in about Vanessa's parentage and blood line you can pick the next prompt for the All Down Hill short stories.

* * *

Vanessa saw the smoke trail end as she passed by a high cliff and realized there was a person on top of it. Even though she went by quick that familiar gaze told her it was Loki.

Vanessa landed on the ground in between Tony and the blond man and lifted her visor to send a glare at Tony.

"Are you completely mad?!" She yelled.

"Do not touch me again." Said the blond man in a very deep voice.

Tony lifted up his helmet, "Then don't take my stuff."

"You have NO IDEA of what you just interrupted!" cried the blond angrily.

Tony looked around, "What? Shakespeare in the park? Doth mother know you wearth her drapes?" he said gesturing to the man's outfit.

"This is something that go far beyond the comprehension of you and your friend's man of iron. Loki will face Asguardian justice." Said the blond man gesturing towards Vanessa.

"When Loki hands over the cube then he will be all yours. But until then," his face plate snapped closed. "stay out of the way."

Vanessa ran over to Tony as she saw the blond man go in a separate direction.

"Tourist." Mumbled Tony.

"Tony just," said Vanessa who turned to give one last glance at the retreating man, only to quickly close her helmet and yell "MOVE!" as she was sent flying back with such speed and force into Tony as the pair broke though a tree.

Vanessa swore she head a few ribs crack as the heavy weight on her chest, that she saw to be the man's hammer, suddenly fly off of her. She coughed violently as she tried to regain her breath as Tony sat up and tried to get her up as well.

"Are you ok?" asked Tony after a suddenly violent cough struck her as she gasped for breath.

"I'm fine." She rasped clutching her chest, "I can still see my screen past the blood. It's not a lot so it's okay."

"Blood!" said Tony.

"No it's fine!" She called out only to see him charge at the blond man and knock him into a tree as well and getting into a fighting stance.

As the blond man charged back at Tony he quickly uttered a "Get out of the way" to Vanessa.

Vanessa knew she wouldn't be able to help Tony this time so she used what little strength she gained back to fly on top of the cliff that she passed. She took off her helmet and wiped some of the blood that had trickled down her lip. She took her glasses off and pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh. She hoped that he would be fine without her.

"That was quite impressive." Came that familiar soft voice.

Vanessa looked up. Loki was lying in front of her on the edge of the cliff, watching the fight down below. He looked like a teenage girl to Vanessa, watching as two boys fought over her.

"I would have though you'd up and leave. If I didn't know any better I would say you wanted to get caught."

Loki chuckled and sat up to look at Vanessa. "Your very strong but fragile. I wonder how that is?" He gave her a sinister smile as he continued.

"You have a strong heart."

"It's in my blood. I have the blood of the panther. I'm a descendent of warriors." She said raising her hand to show the blood on her glove.

"Really now? There are only weak-minded creatures here on Earth, and you claim to have the blood of the panther. The blood of a warrior." He grinned a toothy grin before quickly putting on a condescending frown.

"Although you are strong for a Midgardian, you are pathetic for a warrior."

Vanessa's face became expressionless as she began to talk in a calm voice.

"My people are one of the strongest people on this planet. Since they stepped foot on this ground they have stood tall, powerful, and prosperous. They always protected their home, some with their lives, for freedom and peace of their people. And still to this day they have never been conquered."

Vanessa stood up and walked up to Loki, her eyes only meeting his chest but she still looked up to him defiantly. She felt a tingle of excitement and adrenaline rush through her, almost hoping that he would say something else so that she would be able to push him off the cliff.

"Not by inside forces or outside forces. Not now and not ever. My blood will not allow you to try and conquer my home. Even if I have to die for it."

Loki's narrowed his eyes at her. Not in a menacing way, but almost as if he was analyzing her.

"Such a bold statement from such a small creature. As I said before, you have great potential. Too bad it will die with you once this planet is mine."


	12. Chapter 10: The Meeting

**AUTHOR NOTE:** Thank you so much for the favorites and watches. This is my most watched story as of now and I am so thankful that you all like it. Also sorry for the long wait, finals have been pushed back and to compensate I got 2 papers to write.

Joy. Such a shame though that sarcasm can't be read well through type.

Also I am surprised that no one picked up on my hint as to Vanessa's background but don't worry there will be more hints soon.

* * *

Vanessa looked in awe as she walked down the long hallway of the helicarier. People where walking and running about fluttering from place to place with paperwork or tablets. Tony, who was next her, looked un-phased as they were both lead down the hall by Agent Coulson.

Tony looked to his side at Vanessa noticing she still had on her suit. "Why didn't you-"

"We've already been though that." Said Vanessa not looking at him, "it would take too long to get off and it's so tight it takes forever to get back on."

"Well you may have to anyway. Agent Dawson has prepared you a new suit." came Coulson.

Vanessa looked at him with a frown. "What?"

Coulson smirked. "He said he had to as I quote "prove a point to a hard headed little girl." He never knows how to say things delicately."

Vanessa's eyes slanted as she stopped in the hall. "_Hard headed little girl_?! " she yelled through gritted teeth. "Well you tell that stuck up son of a bitch that he can kiss my-"

Tony grabbed her arm and continued down the hallway. "You can have a fight with your new friend later, but now we have a play date to get too."

Tony then turned to Coulson letting go of Vanessa's arm. "Speaking of play dates, I could arrange to have you and your cellist together for a weekend."

Coulson looked over at him and gave a small smile. "Thank you Mr. Stark but that's not necessary. "

"Are you sure? I'm just saying." He said as the trio approached the main bridge.

Coulson still smiled, "It's okay really."

"Okay, well keep love alive." He said hitting Coulson on the chest before him and Vanessa walked onto the bridge.

It was bigger than she though it was. A good 20 or so computers where scattered about everywhere as people ran back and forth from the computers to doors and from doors to computers. The large windshield only showed the glowing moon outside and the inky darkness that she had just come out of.

She then noticed the people sitting at the large round table she was next too. Steve was there along with Natasha (who she remembered from when she "worked" for Tony). There was also the large blond man, sans cape, and a rather kind looking man with curly black hair. He was slightly muscular for his age, which appeared to be in the 40s, and wore a purple shirt as he fiddled with a pair of glasses in his hands.

Vanessa pushed her own frames up on her nose as she followed Tony into the room.

"I think it's about mechanics." he said while still fiddling with the glasses. "What do they need the iridium for?"

"Stabilizing agent." Said Tony as he strolled into the room. "So the portal won't collapse on its self like it did at S.H.E.I.L.D."

Tony then walked over to the large blond man and tapped him on his chest. "No hard feelings Point Break, you got a mean swing. But don't try to crush my assistant again."

The large blond turned back to Vanessa and nodded at her, "I am sorry Miss."

Vanessa looked down feeling all the eyes at the table go on her. "I'm fine really."

"Anyway," Tony continued, "he needs it so the portal can stay as open and as wide as he wants." He walked over towards to standing control panels as he turned around the room and started mumbling things out to the bridge control, who just sent him confused and annoyed looks.

"That man is playing Galaga!" came Tony as he pointed to a young man hunched over his computer station. Everyone's eyes turned to him.

"Thought we wouldn't noticed. But we did." Tony then put a hand over his left eye and looked down at the control panels again. "How does Fury even see these?" he said asking a very stern looking woman who held her black hair up in a bun.

"He turns." She answered, clearly annoyed with Tony's antics.

Vanessa just began to rub her temples as she could feel a headache coming on.

"Sounds exhausting." He said as he walked back to the table.

"_ANYWAY_!" said Vanessa as she tried to get the attention from her boss. "He would still need a few raw materials but because he has Agent Barton that won't be a problem. But he still needs an energy source. Something to help start the cube up."

The dark haired woman turned to both Tony and Vanessa. "Since when did you two become experts on thermo nuclear astrophysics?"

"Last night." Said Tony. "The packet? The notes? Am I the only one who did the reading?"

"Does Loki need a particular kind of power source?" said Steve, who Vanessa could tell was already done with Tony the moment he opened his mouth.

"He would have to heat the cube to 120 million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier. "

"Unless," said Tony walking over to the man, "Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the Quantum Tunnel effect."

" Well if he could do that he could achieve heavy ion fusion in any reactor on the planet."

"Finally someone who speaks English." Tony said as he called Vanessa over to him.

"Is that what just happened?" said Steve.

As Vanessa walked by him she gave him a smile. "Takes a few years to learn how to speak physics."

Tony reached out his hand as the other man shook it. "Nice to meet you Dr. Banner. I love your work on electromagnetic ion collisions. I'm also a fan of the way you turn into a giant green rage monster."

Vanessa wanted to slap Tony for saying that, but also wanted to slap herself for not realizing that he was Dr. Bruce Banner. She was ashamed that the only image she could remember of him was as a giant green ball of rage smashing through Harlem on a projection screen during last nights debriefing.

Vanessa just shoved Tony out of the way and shook Bruce's hand. "Hi, I'm Vanessa Travis and I am the personal assistant for this idiot." She said point to Tony with a smile.

Bruce just gave her a polite smile and nod. "Nice to met you both."

"Dr. Banner is here to try and help us locate the cube Mr. Stark." Came Fury's booming voice as he walked into the room. His black coat flying in the small draft it picked up as he walked. "I was hoping that you and Miss. Travis could help him."

"It would be a honor." Said Vanessa.

Although she remembered his physical character as green and large, she new is work back form college. Her sophomore physics teacher was a hug fan of Dr. Banner's work and got Vanessa really interested in his theories and studies. She never thought in her life she would be able to get to work next to Dr. Banner, even if it was to find a crazy Norse god that was loose in New York.

"Well, I say start with that stick of his." Said Steve. "It may look magical but it sure does look like a HYDRA weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube." Said Fury. "And I also want to know how he made one of my top agents into one of his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys? I do not understand." Said the blond with a confused look on his face.

"I do!" came Steve.

Vanessa saw Tony roll his eyes and she quickly smacked him on the arm.

"I understood that reference."

Tony turned to Bruce, "Shall we play Doctor?"

Bruce extended his hand before him as him Tony and Vanessa left the conference room.

As they walked down the hall Vanessa gave Tony another smack on the arm.

"Ow! Why are you constantly beating me up?" said Tony as he rubbed the spot on his arm.

"Because you are being so rude Mr. Stark. Specially with Mr. Rodgers. You have to know he may be having a hard time adjusting to this time period. Why must you make fun of it all the time."

"Because it's funny." He replied. "Just like how this is going to be really funny. AGENT DAWSON'S CREEK!"

Vanessa looked up to see Agent Dawson walking along the other side of the hall. He wasn't in his normal suit but rather a S.H.I.L.D issued uniform. He pursed his lips together in obvious distaste at Tony's nickname and stopped to greet them.

"Hello, Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner." He said and then looked down. "Hello…Ms. Travis."

Vanessa's hands clenched into tight fist.

"I actually have something for you Ms. Travis, it will only take a minute-"

"I'm sorry but I'm heading off with Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner to work on-"

"No! Go ahead! It will probably take us just an hour to set up alone! No go on and you can meet us later. I'm sure Dawson here knows where Dr. Banner's lab is and I'm sure he will bring you to us when he's done right?" said Tony.

Dawson nodded "Of course."

Tony then gave a gentle push on Vanessa's back and gave her a smile, as she glared at him.

"See you in awhile." He said as the two scientist walked down the hall.

"Why did you do that? It doesn't take a genius to know she doesn't like him." Said Dr. Banner as they rounded a corner.

"Serves her right. Always smacking me." Tony replied as he rubbed the stop Vanessa hit him only a minute ago.

The pair then went into a small lab with a large windowpane that looked out over the indoor jet hanger.

Tony clapped his hands together. "Well then, let's find us a cube."


	13. Chapter 11: The Talk Part 1

**AUTHOR**** NOTE: **_Hello all and I am terribly sorry this chapter is so late. Time is hard to come by now that my semester is wrapping up but luckily I have my Holiday break coming up so that is about 2 to 3 weeks of me writing and relaxing. So please enjoy. This is a mostly Vanessa and Dominic (Dawson's first name if you forgot) chapter._

* * *

Vanessa glared at Dawson as he worked around the room collecting her new and improved suit.

"The suit is made from S.H.I.E.L.D. grade bulletproof material so it can handle multiple rounds. I kept the old design on the sides though. It was one of the few things I liked about the suit."

With an exclamation Dawson quickly found what he was missing and set down a pair of gloves down on the table. They looked like even slimmer versions of her rocket stabilizers.

"I made your gloves a tad bit smaller and added in a blaster cannon."

"Why are you doing this?" Vanessa said peering at him over her glasses.

Dawson just smirked. "To prove a point. Now go in the closet and change."

Vanessa snatched the suit that was already on the table and walked over to the near by closet and slammed the door.

A few minutes latter she came out and came face to face with her reflection in a full-length mirror, and a pair of hands that held it on each side. He did keep the original arrows but she also noticed a crest in the center of her chest. It was a black circle outlined in lime green, the same color of her arrows, and had a 'V' made out of two arrows in the center of it.

"The crest doubles as a tracking device. So incase you are M.I.A we can find you."

Vanessa glared at her reflection, "Why are you doing this?"

Dawson set the mirror against the table and sat on the tabletop. "Like I said to prove a point."

"Why are you doing this?" she said putting her hands on her hips.

Dawson sighed. "God you sound like a broken record."

"Then just answer my question."

"I did. Not my fault if you don't believe it."

"Huh. I would have thought you would be the first person to celebrate if I got blown up or something. And yet you're making me a new suit. Giving me a tracking device. Making me a symbol!"

Dawson returned to his normal stoic face. "I hate to see inadequate things on very capable people. I believe that it hinders one's capabilities if their equipment is not right."

"But Tony Stark made this for me-"

"And it was inadequate because Tony Stark can't design something like that. If he built you a suit like his then that would be capable of serving your needs. But he didn't because you don't need one. You rely on body movements from the footage I've seen right?"

"Yeah."

"A heavy suit would not help you. You need moveable breathable material."

"Well-" suddenly Vanessa thought of something. "Wait. Did you just say I was a capable person?"

"What?" Dawson raised his eyebrow with a confused look on his face.

"A moment ago. You said that you hate to see inadequate things on very capable people. So you think I'm efficient in what I do. That I'm talented?"

Dawson narrowed his eyes. "You're on the thin line between inadequate and just plain sloppy."

Vanessa smirked, "Although I appreciate the accidental compliment I much rather prefer this version of you Dawson's Creek. With this version I know what to expect."

Dawson pursed his lips again at that horrible nickname, but was inwardly smirking. He liked arguing with this girl, it helped him to relax. He was already an aggressive person by nature and because of his desk position he never really had a place to take his aggression out except on other people.

While everyone else ignored him, this girl shot back. She was aggressive in her own way. He liked that. And it seemed that she was learning how to be snarky as well from Stark.

"Why are you so happy all of a sudden now anyway? It's creepy." Said Vanessa returning to her rather annoyed look that only came about when Dawson was near.

"Because you're in my area now. So much as one toe stepping out of line and Fury can have you hauled off the ship for insubordination and I would only be too glad to throw you out. Now leave, you annoying little girl and go back to being Starks lap dog."

Dawson blinked and suddenly felt a large amount of pain. When he looked up he saw he was on the other side of the room surrounded by broken glass and fallen paper from the worktop he was just slammed into.

"Thank you Agent Dawson for the suit, you prick. Just so you know, say that shit again and your skinny ass will be flying out of this Helicarrier in a millisecond."


	14. QUICK AUTHOR NOTE 2

_Hello all!_

_A quick note to let you know that I haven't abandoned this story. I have a minor case of writer's block and this combined with the holidays and preparing for next semester is not helping._

_I thank you for being patient and expect a new chapter sometime soon._

_Happy New Year!_

_TheDiscombobulatedDiva_


	15. QUICK AUTHOR NOTE 3

_Hi all, I just wanted to say that I am out of school and this story is still active. I just saw Iron Man 3 and I have big plans for Vanessa with that and the series and other ideas that I have for her beyond the Iron Man series and involve the rest of the Marvelverse._

_Also I recently made an AO3 account and will be putting a mirror of this story there. Although the one on AO3 will be slightly edited, nothing too major though._

_So thank you for sticking around and please enjoy!_


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